Srinagar:
The BJP today released a list of 82 candidates for the three-phase election to 90 Assembly seats in Jammu and Kashmir. This is the first Assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir after the erstwhile state lost its special status in 2019 and was bifurcated into two Union Territories. After the last Assembly election in 2014, BJP and PDP had tied up to form the government.
The list was released this morning after the BJP’s Central Election Committee finalised the party’s poll picks for the upcoming election. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP chief JP Nadda were at the key meeting in Delhi yesterday.
In the 2014 election, the BJP had put up a stellar show by winning 25 seats. The PDP had emerged as the single largest party with 28 wins. The incumbent National Conference won 15 seats and the Congress bagged 12. Following the election, the BJP and the PDP forged a surprise alliance, led by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and then by Mehbooba Mufti after the former’s death in 2016.
